Inside the stone house, sulfurous acid solution glimmered pale yellow in the glass flask. Deren carefully introduced air through a slender glass tube into the liquid. Bubbles gurgled and rolled, each burst releasing a sharp, acrid odor that made his eyes water.
Onyxia stood beside him, fingertips drumming restlessly on the tabletop, her expression one of profound boredom.
"How long will this take?" she asked, impatience edging her voice.
"Patience." Deren kept his gaze fixed on the liquid, watching the color shift incrementally. "The oxidation reaction needs time."
The Black Dragon Princess pursed her lips, igniting a small flame at her fingertips and letting it dance idly between her fingers like a living creature.
"How about I just heat it directly?" she suggested, mischievous interest flickering in her eyes.
"Absolutely not!" Deren nearly knocked over the flask in alarm. "Heating strong acid causes rapid evaporation. The entire house would fill with corrosive gas!"
Onyxia raised an eyebrow, seeming not entirely opposed to that outcome, but ultimately snorted and extinguished the flame with a dismissive flick.
Several hours later, the sulfurous acid finally oxidized into dilute sulfuric acid. Deren carefully transferred the liquid to a ceramic evaporating dish and began slowly heating it to drive off the water. The process was painstaking, requiring constant attention to temperature control.
As moisture decreased, the liquid's viscosity gradually increased, thickening like honey. An unsettling acrid sensation permeated the air, setting teeth on edge. Onyxia's dragon eyes contracted slightly as she instinctively retreated half a step.
"This smell..." She wrinkled her nose delicately. "Even my scales are tingling."
Deren did not look up, completely focused on adjusting the flame. "That means it is working." Fortunately, Onyxia's magical ventilation system prevented him from succumbing to poisoning.
When the last wisp of water vapor dissipated, only thick, nearly colorless liquid remained in the evaporating dish—concentrated sulfuric acid.
Onyxia stared at it, rarely revealing genuine wariness.
"This substance... can hurt me?" she asked quietly, her tone mixing doubt and vigilance.
Deren nodded carefully. "If directly contacted, even dragon scales would corrode."
The Black Dragon Princess fell silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out—
"Wait! Do not touch—!" Deren cried out in alarm.
But Onyxia's fingertip already hovered above the liquid. A wisp of shadow power wrapped around her skin, forming an extremely thin protective membrane. She lightly dipped into the sulfuric acid, then quickly withdrew.
Hiss!
Despite magical protection, her fingertip emitted a faint wisp of white smoke. The scale illusion distorted slightly, revealing true black dragon scales beneath.
"Interesting." She stared at her slightly reddened fingertip. Rather than angry, she revealed a dangerous smile. "Mortals can actually create something that harms dragons..."
Deren breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately tensed again—because Onyxia's gaze had turned toward him, her dragon eyes flickering with unsettling interest.
"Now..." she said slowly, "tell me what you plan to do with this substance."
Deren took a deep breath, pointing to the saltpeter sacks in the corner.
"Next step, react sulfuric acid with saltpeter to produce nitric acid." He paused deliberately. "Then... we can synthesize the fertilizer."
"Fertilizer?"
"An explosive." Deren's eyes sparkled with fervent intensity. "Stronger than black powder, but more stable and harder to defend against—because it is not magical. Your father cannot sense it."
Onyxia's pupils dilated slightly.
"You truly are a dangerous little madman," she said softly, though her tone carried unmistakable approval.
Deren grinned. "So, shall we continue?"
The Black Dragon Princess's fingertips ignited with flame again, but this time, her smile burned hotter than dragon fire.
"Of course."
Two days later, Deren poured purified potassium nitrate powder into concentrated sulfuric acid. Pale yellow smoke immediately churned in the flask, the pungent smell like countless needles jabbing into the nasal cavity. The very air seemed to scorch his throat.
Onyxia stood three steps away, dragon eyes tightly contracted, her illusory nostrils twitching involuntarily.
"This smell..." Her voice was low, rarely revealing such discomfort. "Worse than rotting troll entrails."
Deren covered his nose and mouth with a wet cloth, eyes red and swollen from the caustic fumes, yet still focused intently on the reaction vessel. Nitric acid vapor gradually liquefied in the condenser pipe, dripping into the receiving bottle—clear, colorless, and deeply dangerous.
"Success." His voice emerged hoarse and raspy from prolonged exposure.
Onyxia stared at that colorless liquid. Draconic instinct made the muscles beneath her scales tighten slightly—this substance had no magical fluctuation whatsoever, yet triggered an instinctive threat response.
Deren felt a surge of pride. He had taken a significant step forward. But next came ammonia synthesis, and thinking of that particular smell made his stomach turn. Onyxia noticed Deren's sudden silence, mistaking it for technical difficulty, blissfully unaware of her own impending ordeal.
If nitric acid preparation was merely uncomfortable, ammonia water production was an absolute catastrophe.
Deren sealed animal hair, organic waste, and lime in a distillation apparatus and heated it at high temperature. Soon, an indescribable putrid stench erupted from the conduit—like the concentrated essence of every foul smell imaginable, condensed into weaponized form.
"Urgh!"
Onyxia instantly retreated to the wall, her illusion nearly failing as black dragon scale patterns flickered through her silver hair. Her vertical pupils contracted violently, a low draconic rumble rolling in her throat. "You... you insect... dare create such... blasphemy..."
Deren himself was nearly overcome, tears streaming freely down his face, but he stubbornly adjusted the condensing apparatus, allowing ammonia gas to dissolve into pungent ammonia water.
"This is... strategic sacrifice..." he managed between dry heaves.
Just then—
"Pfft!"
A suppressed laugh erupted from midair. Chromie's figure tumbled from a temporal rift, losing her balance entirely. She covered her nose with one hand, laughing so hysterically she could barely hold her hourglass staff steady.
"Hahaha—the mighty Black Dragon Princess—reduced to this!" She laughed until she slapped her thighs, tears streaming down her face—whether from fumes or laughter remained unclear. "I should write this into the Bronze Dragonflight archives!"
Onyxia's dragon eyes instantly blazed with murderous intent, but after taking one step forward, another wave of stench forced her back. She could only snarl through gritted teeth, "Bronze dragon... you are courting death..."
Chromie made an exaggerated face, pinching her nose as she approached the ammonia water bottle with morbid curiosity. "Wow, this purity is remarkable! Are you planning to assault Deathwing with this?" She suddenly became more serious, her bronze eyes flickering. "But honestly, these chemical substances cause more timeline disturbance than I expected... things never before seen in Azeroth."
Deren weakly raised his hand. "So... you will not stop us?"
Chromie blinked innocently. "Why would I? I want to see what other novelties you create. Besides, I am recording everything for posterity."
"You dare!" Onyxia's roar and Deren's protest rang out simultaneously.
But the bronze dragon had already fled through her temporal rift, leaving only a string of gloating laughter echoing in the air.
Inside the stone house, pungent chlorine gas mixed with lingering nitric acid fumes. Deren suppressed the burning sensation in his throat, carefully controlling the mixing ratio of the two liquids with practiced precision. Onyxia stood nearby, dragon eyes fixed on the white crystals gradually precipitating at the beaker's bottom, brow slightly furrowed.
"This is what you called fertilizer?" Her tone carried obvious skepticism.
"Yes, ammonium nitrate." Deren gently stirred with a glass rod. More crystals formed, settling at the bottom like delicate snow. "Theoretically, it makes crops grow faster and stronger."
Onyxia fell silent for a moment, then reached out to pinch a crystal between her fingertips, rubbing it thoughtfully.
"Looks utterly ordinary," she commented dismissively.
Deren smiled without explaining further.
"Wait." Onyxia suddenly narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You went through all this trouble just to farm?"
Deren's smile deepened. "Of course not."
He placed some powder on the table, mixed it with a small amount of black powder, then struck it sharply with an iron hammer. A muffled explosion rang out, echoing in the confined space.
"Ammonium nitrate is indeed fertilizer..." Deren lowered his voice conspiratorially. "But if mixed with fuel—wood shavings, oils, rendered fat—and combined with a suitable detonation device..."
Onyxia's pupils dilated.
"It becomes an explosive more terrifying than black powder." Deren lightly patted the ceramic jars lined up on the shelf. "Moreover, it appears harmless, transports easily, and can be directly disguised as agricultural supplies."
The Black Dragon Princess stared at those ceramic jars, the corner of her mouth slowly curving into a dangerous arc.
"You little madman..." she said quietly, her tone carrying genuine approval. "I am beginning to like this plan very much."
Just as the two discussed strategy in low voices, a bronze ripple suddenly appeared in the air. Chromie's small head poked through the temporal rift, nose tip still red, clearly still suffering from the previous assault on her senses.
"What are you two doing now—" Her gaze fell on those white crystals, her voice suddenly choking off.
"Fertilizer." Deren and Onyxia said in perfect unison, expressions utterly sincere.
Chromie narrowed her eyes suspiciously, studying them both. "Really?"
"Absolutely." Deren raised both hands in an innocent gesture. "We simply want to improve Azeroth's agricultural productivity."
Onyxia cooperatively nodded, even revealing a slightly stiff but passably friendly smile.
Chromie looked at Deren, then at Onyxia, finally staring at those ceramic jars with growing unease. She suddenly shivered.
"I do not know why..." she muttered quietly, backing toward her temporal rift, "but I think you two are more dangerous than the Old Gods..."
With that ominous pronouncement, she vanished back into the timestream without a trace.
Onyxia stared at where Chromie had disappeared, dark fire churning in her dragon eyes, scales flickering at her fingertips. She suddenly slammed a fist on the table, making the ammonium nitrate powder in the jars tremble ominously.
"That damned bronze dragon whelp!" Her voice rumbled low like distant thunder, carrying draconic resonance that made the glass instruments vibrate. "Next time she dares appear uninvited, I will stuff her into a temporal rift and let her experience being torn apart by spacetime turbulence!"
Deren wisely shrank back, remaining strategically silent.
Onyxia's anger had not dissipated. She paced irritably around the room, boots thudding against the floor with each sharp turn.
"What right does she have—what right to watch us like some traveling amusement?!" She suddenly whirled, draconic aura spreading uncontrolled. Glass instruments on the table developed fine stress fractures with audible cracks. "Are we insects for her entertainment? Jesters for her amusement?!"
Deren carefully raised his hand. "Perhaps we should remain calm? She is only—"
"Only what?!" Onyxia's illusion nearly failed entirely, black scales flickering prominently through silver hair. "She mocked me! A black dragon! Of Deathwing's own bloodline!"
Deren swallowed hard, deciding to change tactics entirely.
"Actually..." he said slowly, choosing his words with extreme care, "have you considered that she keeps interfering because she fears us?"
Onyxia's fury abruptly ceased, vertical pupils contracting sharply. "What?"
Deren shrugged. "Bronze dragons guard timelines obsessively, and we are creating things that should not exist in any timeline. The more nervous she becomes, the more it proves our plan is genuinely effective."
Onyxia fell silent for a long moment, then suddenly sneered with dark satisfaction. "That makes perfect sense."
Her anger gradually subsided, replaced by dangerous pleasure.
"Good." She said softly, a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Then let her continue being nervous."
Deren breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to return to his work, when he heard Onyxia add—
"After we succeed, I will personally ensure Chromie understands the price of mockery."
Deren wisely decided that mentioning bronze dragons less frequently would better serve his survival.